1. Type less
BlackBerry has a QWERTY keyboard and you can type everything out in full - OR you can save time with the built-in shortcuts. Press space twice at the end of a sentence to get the full stop and an automatic capital on the next word.
Don't worry your text-addicted self with apostrophes in words like I'm and isn't (type im and the BlackBerry will correct it for you); there are other handy abbreviations like 'wel' to get 'we'll' and 'il' to get 'I'll' and you can add your own with Options > AutoText.
2. Quick capitals
You don't need Shift - press and hold a letter key to type the upper case letter.
3. Skip Symbol
If you're typing an email address into a field that expects an email address, don't bother looking for how to type the @; just hit space and BlackBerry with put the @ in for you. Press space when you need the . in the middle of the email address and it will fill that in, too. Do the same for URLs in the browser; pressing space fills in the periods faster than typing them by hand.
4. Fast select
There's a Select command on the menu for choosing what to copy and paste - but you can make a selection just by holding down the Shift key as you scroll the trackpad.
5. Keyboard shortcuts
Save on scrolling by using 't' to get to the top of any email message, web page or other long screen and 'b' to get to the bottom. There are specific shortcuts for all the built-in apps like using the Mute button to pause videos or music or skipping to the next or previous track by pressing and holding the volume up and down keys (which also zoom in and out in the camera - although many apps use I and O to zoom); there's a list in the Help tool.
6. Choose dialing or shortcuts
Under Options > Phone Options > General Options you can set Dial From Home Screen to Yes or No; if you set it to Yes you can start typing a name to dial the number on the home screen, if you set it to No you can type the first letter of apps on the home screen to open them (M for Mail, B for browser, C to compose email - and (weird)N for Messenger, L for Calendar and U for Calculator).
7. Web columns
Press Z in the web browser to refresh the page into a column the size of the BlackBerry screen so it's easier to read, press Z again to go back to a normal page view you can scroll around.
9. Which browser?
There are three different browsers on the BlackBerry, the default shitty browser that stinks, Opera mini and the awesome UC Browser. Use opera for browsing, and UC for downloads :-).
10. Fast search
You can search for contacts, messages and inside files and web pages - press S to search in contacts and messages and F to search in other apps.
11. Colour-code messages
If you get both work and personal email on your BlackBerry, you can change the colour of either set of messages. Choose Options > Security Options >Information> Message Outline Colours and either Enterprise Messages or Other Messages.
12. Menu multi-tasking
BlackBerrys are awesome at multitasking. Your apps stay running so you can switch back to them. To get back to another app, press and hold the Menu button to get the task switcher.
13. Lock it!
BlackBerrys have both a lock and a mute button on the top edge. You can always lock the screen by scrolling down to the Lock icon but it's faster to just press and hold * until the screen locks (use the mute button located on the top of your phone to unlock it).
14. Real convenience
There are two 'convenience keys' - one on each side of the BlackBerry; you've probably found one of them by knocking it and hearing that irritating 'say a command' message. If you're not into voice dialing, assign those buttons to something you feel is important enough.
15. Say a command
Voice command does more than voice dialling; if you want to check your signal and battery strength you can scroll through the Options menu or you can hit the voice command button and say 'status' or 'check battery' and 'check signal strength'.
16. Say it again
Voice recognition works, but you need to adapt it to your voice by reading a list of numbers and words; choose Options > Voice Dialing> Adapt Voice.
17. Hidden Help
The hidden 'Help Me!' screen shows the signal strength, battery level, device PIN, free space, space in use, IMEI, OS version, how long the BlackBerry has been on and some other info that can be useful for troubleshooting. View it by pressing Alt + Caps + H.
18. Save power overnight
BlackBerry is very frugal on battery life and you can make it last even longer by having yours turn itself off overnight and back on in the morning. Choose Options > Auto On/Off; you can have different on and off times for weekdays and weekends.
19. Master Control Program
Use the free third-party tool MCP for tweaking your BlackBerry, doing a factory reset in an emergency - or just installing updates more easily than with the sprawling and inefficient BlackBerry Desktop software.
20. Install any app
If you want to run an app that doesn't have an installer, connect your BlackBerry by USB, switch to mass storage mode so it shows up on your PC as a drive and copy the JAR file to the root folder. On your BlackBerry use the Media app to open the folder and select the JAR file to install it.
BONUS TIP (since I'm such a nice guy :-)) Save money on SMS costs
If you're sending a message to another BlackBerry user, BlackBerry Messenger is free -but you need to know their BlackBerry PIN.The easiest way to get someone in your contact list is to invite them.
There you have it people, go show the world how Blackberry savvy you are. You know what I mean. Cheers, Sam
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